People Who Pick On Food At Risk For Drug Addiction

February 04,2013

In a recent study done by Yale researches, lab mice neurons and brain activity were studied for their correlation to overeating and drug abuse.

People Who Pick On Food At Risk For Drug Addiction

In a recent study done by Yale researches, lab mice neurons and brain activity were studied for their correlation to overeating and drug abuse.

Information found from the study indicated that mice that were more prone to overeating were less likely to go for novelty activities such as drug abuse. The mice that did not eat as much were found to have a higher drive for the novelty activities, including abusing cocaine. While the research was done on lab mice, there were significant links to how their brain function relates to human brain function; the model can be followed very closely.

Before the research was conducted, many could have easily pointed out the drugs such as cocaine have a common side effect for diminishing appetite substantially, if not completely. However, in light of the recent finds there is a trend between natural behaviors before the onset of drug abuse. People who generally pick at food and do not over eat are more likely to develop a high liking for cocaine and can fall into abusive patterns more easily than people who tend to over eat.

While other drugs, such as marijuana, which increases appetite, are not known to follow the same pattern, it is clear that drugs such as meth, cocaine and heroin can fall into the model. In serious cases of cocaine addiction and other addictions which produce similar side effects, people have been known to become malnourished. Whether or not pre-existing natural behaviors have an impact on the possibility for a person to become malnourished while suffering from a heavy cocaine addiction is unclear as of yet. However, as research is continued, it's suspected that the severe consequence of œmalnourishment can be predicted when comparing eating habits prior to, and after the onset of addiction.

In the past, it has been considered that people who overeat have a deficiency with regulating reward center responses in the brain, and are more likely to abuse drugs. Now that other sections of the brain, such as the hypothalamus are being scrutinized more closely in conjunction with overeating and drug abuse, results have shown nearly the opposite. While there still are people who overeat that can become highly addicted to an illegal substance, the general model indicates that the opposite has an even higher likelihood of addiction.

With the high range of personalities and behaviors which vary from person to person it will be extremely difficult to isolate one or two specific aspects of brain function which can make people more likely to succumb to addiction. It is expected though that with further research, scientists will come closer to figuring out what does spur a person to become an addict, and then how to most effectively regulate that variable.

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